Metal connection for building frames



Sept. 22, 1931. VAN RENSSELAER P. SAXE 1,824,631

' METAL CONNECTION FDR BUILDING FRAMES .Filed April 23. 1930 Patented Sept. 22, 1931 PATENT OFFICE van nanssariaaarowm saxa, or BALTIMORE, ma mmn urn. CONIIIECTION'FOR BUILDING rmns uses filed April as,

invention relates to seats, fastenings,

or c ips to use in erecting the rolledmetal frames for buildings and has for its object to dispense with the use of rivets, bolts,

8 tem orary'clamps etc., and .to make an all wel ed job. a

Therolling mills make standard lengths of rolled shapes as channels, I-beams, angles 7 -etc., of various standard sizes.

10 The standards areidelivered to the fabricators shop where they are cut to unit or len hs, punched for rivets and rovided .wit certainconnecting elements riveted to them bywhichthe elements are to be first In temporarily bolted and then finally riveted together according to the specifications and plans of thearchltect. I v

' In. cutting these lengths, for columns, beams, plates, and similar structural shapes there-is a considerablewastein short discarded ends or .pieces'thatusually are too short to .useffor standard connections and have to be sold a's-scrap. Some short pieces are now used'inriveted joints but by no 125 means is thepresent. use sufficient to prevent a large accumulation of small scrap by the fabricaton; 7

One object of my invention is to reduce this accumulation of small scra .by making a greater use of it in erectingt iron framesofbuildings... Another object-is to make use of channel iron scrap, whichso far as Iknow, is not now used for, the connections for beams.

- Another object is to makean all welded job and avoid the necessity of the use of rivets. and their objectionable features as Well as avoid the use of temporary construc- ,tion bolts at present used to hold material in place .before field welding can be done.

I very materially: reduce the cost of erection A intheconstruction of heavy structura'l metal frames for buildings by eliminating the punching of the members and riveting them to ther prior to-the finished erection.

' l -also. save a considerable labor'cost in the. time. required to makev-the temporary connection oftheframe members preparato making the final connection inmy- ,case, the welding of the parts in place.

: nection, welded in her;

e structural 1 also welded to the beam in the fabricating 1930. Serial No. 446,582.

invention wherethe end of a beam is about to be placed in position on a column;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the beam in position ready for welding; Fig. 3 is a side view of the connection in place; 1

Fig. 4 is a plan view of punched'plate' from which the yoke members are made;

Fig. 5 is a cross section of a yoke member;

Fig. 6 shows a scrap of channel iron which may be served to form two angle members to seat in the yoke;

Fig. 7 is a front view of the finished conplace.

Fig. 8 shows a deep, built up beam using two connections to prevent the beam from tilting;

Fig. 9 shows how. the connection may be used at an angle; 7

Fig. 10 shows a section of an angle iron for use inco-operation withmy yoke mem- F ig. 11 shows a connection between two I beams using my invention.

My lllVGIltlOIl comprises ayoke member such as 15, whose two legs 16 are welded as at 17 to a column or other. structural elenlllent for example as 18 in the fabricating s o P i'eferably the three edges of each leg-16 of the yoke member 15 are welded at the proper place onto the structural element in the fabricating shop. One flange 19 of the angles 20 is also welded to the beam elements 21 for entrance in their yoke memher. This flange 19 of the angle member is 0 shop and preferablyalong its three edges. Inerecting the frame of a building it is only necessary to drop the beams into place so that the free leg 26 of the angle iron on the beam enters the yoke. No temporary bolts have to be used to hold the beam in place.

After. the beam is in place the edges of the free leg 26 are welded to the upright,

or column member as at 22, an operation much quicker and cheaper than rlyeting.

In most cases this marginal welding of the yoke and angle is quite sufficient for strength in any building but if desired the beam itself may be welded to the column, when specifications require it.

My anode of erection enablesla ready means of connecting beams "to uprights at an angle as illustrated in F g. 9 and also permits as ready a connection of deep beams to columns as shown Fig. 8 of beams to the other beams where theconne'ctron' can be used with boththe top and bottom flanges of the beam as shown at a and b. The lower tangle member being a section of an angle iron 20 whose flanges aresubstantia-lly equal while the upper angle ate is a section of achannel which has a short flange compared to the webportion to facilitate erection by first inserting the longer leg of the lower angle iron in its yoke and thereafter inserting vthe shorter flange of theipiece of channel in its yoke member. 1

'T-he yokes are a made from rectangular plateFig; 4, punched with a rectangular hole 23 and then cut at 24 to form two, yoke anembers. ;Th-e punching of the .hole 23 causes a slight taper 25 on the inner surface of the yoke member by maintaining a suitable dimension of the punch and die.

By the fact that the contacting surfaces ofeolumn' and angle member are rolledsurfectl faces, hence not perfectly smooth, they do not fit against one another to make a pervtighttemporary joint as with machined surfaces.

This is "an advantage ,thatwhen the weldi's affected between them and cools ,does notcrack' or give way in any 7 [shown by extensive use. 7

there is sufficient space, to allow the parts.-

todraw fti-ghtly together by the cooling of the weld aboutthe leg 21; so that the weld respect as Theqweld'ng of the leg 26 on the beam onto the column or "other structural element is the only field operation to be made, is

simple, rapid andofinuch less cost than insorting rivets,and avoids the" necessity of weakening the metal by punching it. a

I am aware that sheet metal has been connected by forming a hook on one end of an ele entthat enters a slot cut in the con- .tig'uous element, but l thisrequires special fabrication of the ends and bodies of the elements tobe connected, which with frames fo-rbuil-dings of heavy,"rofilled shapes is. too

expensiveend besides entails too large an amount-of loss from cutting and hand-lingv int-hefabricating shop to' say'nothing' of {the {impossibility of punching co r shaping heavy structural material in such manner.-

Preferably the width of the slot inaliei yoke,.i. e. thedistancebetween itsl two legs isfisli'ghtly greater :than" the width of "the flange of the anglethat enters it to allow lateral play'of a small fraction of an inch. Referring to Figure 6, in this form, the angle brackets 20 are formed "by longitudinally splitting ends'of channel beams which are ordinarily wasted in fabricating plants incident to cutting channels to predetermined lengths. .E 5 i Iclaim 1. The combination with a Vertically disposed 'inetallic-buil-ding element, a horizon tally. disposed metallic building elementterminating adjacent the first mentioned building element, of a, connection between said elements, said connection comprising a weld- -connected U-shaped yoke carriedby-thevertica'lly disposed building element, anangle bracket carried by the horizontally disposed building element, one arm of said bracket extending downwardly with its outer; face at a right angle to the horizontally disposed building-element, the inner face of said arm being at an obtuse angle to :said horizontally disposed building element :and cooperat- .ing with the, yoke whereby the outer face of ;the arm is forced intoclose engagement with the vertical building "element :for a welding operation below. the yoke, said arm of the bracket terminating: asubstantialdisitance below the yoke for said welding opera tion V 2. The combination with adjacentibuilding elements at angles to each iotheryof a'connection between saidelements, said connection comprising. a weld connected yoke icarried by one of :said elements, :a tapered'fiange --carried by the other element and ofa length greater thairthe depth of the yoke, an inc said inclined. surface cooperating with the wedge sh-aped afiange whereby-said flange is cline'd'surfare on the innerside of said yoke,

forced into close engagement with 'one'of :the building elements for a close welding connectionbetween the fiangeiand thebui lding'elenient below the yoke; r

3. A connection between adjacent building elements at angles to each other, said 'con- .nection comprising a yoke carried by o'ne ofsaid' elements,-:'a tapered member carried f'by'th-e other element and of :alength-greater than. the depth of the yoke, said tapered member cooperating the yoke, whereby said member is forced into close engagement with theyokecarryingbuilding element and r V means connecting said tapered member to the yoke gca-rrying building: element; located to i--the ,;s1de=of the yoke opposite thebuild-ing l element zonvwhich" the-tapered member "is I 1nounted-.1%. c. 7 4. A,-connec-tion between "adjacent buildng elementsat angles :to each other, said connection comprising ayo'ke gca'rri-ed bybne V of said: elements; an angularlydisposed yoke carried the r other 'element and extending 'throught-he 'yoke and-termina-fing at apoint spaced from the opposite side of the yoke, wedge engagement between the an ularly disposed member and the yoke whereby said angularly disposed member is forced into close engagement with the yoke carrying member and means connecting the portion of the angularly disposed member to the yoke carr ing member located to the side of the yo e opposite the building element on which the angularly disposed member is mounted.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name.

VAN RENSSELAER POWELL SAXE. 

